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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28139055">Dada</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sapphireth/pseuds/HoldingHands'>HoldingHands (Sapphireth)</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>These little secrets [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Mandalorian (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Cuddles, F/M, Family Feels, Fluff, Mando can't control himself around Cara, Pre-Relationship, Tenderness, hypothetical couple, mama Cara</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 15:27:39</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,946</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28139055</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sapphireth/pseuds/HoldingHands</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Din is trying to teach Grogu to say dad. Cara comes in his help and one thing leads to another.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Din Djarin &amp; Cara Dune, Din Djarin/Cara Dune</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>These little secrets [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1790608</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>146</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Dada</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Din doesn't know if this will work but that isn't going to make him stop trying.</p>
<p>"Daa-daah" he says with a slow pacing. "Come on, you can do it. Daa-daah."</p>
<p>Cara comes to sit on a crate next to him and the baby, who looks at him as if he doesn't get a thing of what he's saying, which is frustrating because he knows the child can understand him. Most of the time.</p>
<p>"You know, that would be a lot easier if he could read your lips."</p>
<p>"Yes, thank you, I can imagine, but it has to be this way."</p>
<p>"No need to be sarcastic. Here, let me try."</p>
<p>Din passes her the child and she sits him on her knees, facing her, making sure he can see her face.</p>
<p>"Ok, buddy, make your dad proud. Say, daa-daa. See my lips? Daa-daa."</p>
<p>The kid finds it hilarious and laughs with that cute, breathy giggle of his.</p>
<p>"This is pointless, he just thinks that we're playing the clown. Maybe he is too young to talk."</p>
<p>"Nonsense, are you quitting already? Come on, we can do it, try again. Daa-daa." Cara turns the child so that he is facing both of them now. Din comes a little closer to her.</p>
<p>Their thighs brush and his skin prickle as his stomach does a flip flop. That happens every time she's near. He's always liked her, as a friend, he's always enjoyed having her around. But now he's always excited to see her again and he's conscious that he seeks every excuse to visit her, talk to her, touch her a little longer than necessary.</p>
<p>Sometimes when she flirts with him, he wonders how she really feels about him. There are moments when he's caught her looking at him when she thinks he doesn't notice. Then she smiles and goes back to whatever she's doing as if nothing had happened. Well, he notices, he always notices her.</p>
<p>"Daa-daah, daa-daah" he repeats as Cara prompts him to do.</p>
<p>The child looks at them both, amused, first at Din, then at Cara, then at Din again. He even claps his hands.</p>
<p>And then he says "Daaaa."</p>
<p>Their eyes go round. He's said it, he's talked!</p>
<p>"Yeah, that's it! You did it! Da-da, I'm da-da."</p>
<p>The child repeats "Da da da da da" non stop. He palms Din's beskar breastplate with a big smile. He looks so happy himself. He turns to Cara.</p>
<p>"Dada!" he says more confident.</p>
<p>Cara's smile is sweet. Before she can correct the baby Din says on an impulse.</p>
<p>"No. She's mama."</p>
<p>Her eyebrows arch high.</p>
<p>"I-I mean. I didn't mean- I-I don't mean that you- and I, that we're…" Could he make a bigger full of himself? First he puts his foot in his mouth and now he's babbling.</p>
<p>"Easy. Don't worry, I get you" she says, with a gentle hand on his forearm and warm eyes. "It's not that he's going to get any ideas, he's a baby."</p>
<p>"Sorry, my tongue slipped. In my mind, I sometimes see you as a mother figure for him. I know I shouldn't, but I can't help it."</p>
<p>"It doesn't bother me. That's kinda… sweet" she says, her voice sounds gentle, and a bit surprised, perhaps.</p>
<p>"Dada, dada" the kid keeps saying, more and more excited.</p>
<p>"Ok buddy, second word. Ma-ma, ma-ma."</p>
<p>"Dada, dada."</p>
<p>Both adults grin.</p>
<p>"Mmma, say mmma." Cara presses her lips together and opens them in an exaggerated 'aa' sound.</p>
<p>"Mmuh."</p>
<p>"Yes, that's right. Maa, maa."</p>
<p>"Maaa."</p>
<p>Din looks at the woman and the baby and he can't believe that the kid is calling Cara his mum. Does he really see her as his other caretaker? He's certain that she never thought that possible.</p>
<p>Cara is giving him sideways glances.</p>
<p>"What?" he asks.</p>
<p>"You're staring."</p>
<p>He rubs the back of his neck.</p>
<p>"It's nice, watching you two."</p>
<p>"You don't have to just watch. Come join us." She encourages him with a bob of her head.</p>
<p>He's already next to them but he comes closer. He rests a hand on Cara's crate behind her and leans over her, her arm brushes his breastplate. Din takes one of the kid's little hands in his. The child coos incomprehensible babble. He looks like he's having the time of his life.</p>
<p>"I wish I knew what he's saying."</p>
<p>"I bet he's telling you to buy more of his favorite food and how he likes it cooked."</p>
<p>"That's if he doesn't eat it raw. I swear, when this kid is hungry he's a monster."</p>
<p>"I know."</p>
<p>She's holding the child up so that he's standing with his feet on her lap. Din reaches out to caress the top of his head, where the hair is soft like the fur of a baby loth-cat. Cara rubs his long, pointy ear, that always helps him relax.</p>
<p>Silence falls as the kid yawns and Cara leans back against Din's chest.</p>
<p>Oh, ok.</p>
<p>He wasn't expecting that but the warmth is very welcome. He leans back too, on the wall, and brings his arms around Cara, holding her and the child as if it's the most natural thing, as if that's something they do all the time and not a movement that feels like the next big step in this strange relationship. He doesn't want to move, in fear that she realizes that she doesn't want this and pulls away from him. But she doesn't move away. He steals a glance at her. Her braid and her tattoo tempt him to comb her hair with his fingers, running them through her thick mane, her cheek and her neck.</p>
<p>Instead, he says.</p>
<p>"I hope it really didn't bother you that I called you 'mama'."</p>
<p>"No. Why would it?"</p>
<p>"I don't want you to think that I'm imposing some kind of obligation towards the kid."</p>
<p>"I don't feel forced to take care of the kid. I care for him too. I do it because I want to." She thinks for a moment, pursing her lips. "Do you really see me as a mama?"</p>
<p>"Yes."</p>
<p>"But I'm always surrounded by weapons and violence, and I can be very aggressive."</p>
<p>"For Mandalorian standards, you are perfect as a mother. Caring and fierce, and strong enough to protect her children."</p>
<p>Cara smiles. The child is asleep. She cradles him in her arms.</p>
<p>"I think that you make a perfect father too."</p>
<p>He huffs. "You give me too much credit."</p>
<p>A comfortable silence falls as they watch the baby sleep. Cara adjusts her position and her head rests on his collarbone. Should she turn to her left, she would be burying her face in his neck.</p>
<p>"If we were a couple" she says, as if commenting on the weather, "would that make me a Mandalorian? Would I have to swear the Creed or something?"</p>
<p>That's something he's never thought about and it takes him by surprise. Unbidden, a picture of Cara Dune in Mandalorian armor appears in his mind. It's hot in this room, and he's glad that no part of Cara's body is lingering near his crotch.</p>
<p>"I… I don't know."</p>
<p>"You don't know?" she asks, and she does turn her head, a little puzzled. His heart rate speeds up. "Have you never met a mixed couple or whatever you call it?"</p>
<p>He tries to remember. No. Yes! Yes, he has.</p>
<p>"Yes, a long time ago. I must have been 13 or 14. I remember that the fiance of a member of the tribe used to visit quite often. One day I heard that they were getting married."</p>
<p>It's a vague memory, at that age he hadn't been interested in things such as marriage.</p>
<p>Cara nudges him in the ribs.</p>
<p>"So? What happened?"</p>
<p>"They said the Mandalorian marriage vows but I don't think that made her a Mandalorian, I saw her a couple of times after that and she wasn't wearing any helmet."</p>
<p>"Mandalorian marriage vows."</p>
<p>"Yeah. Anyway, they moved to another planet short after and I've never heard of them again."</p>
<p>"Oh. So maybe he was the one who stopped being a Mandalorian."</p>
<p>"No."</p>
<p>"Why not?" she pulled apart enough to look at him in the eye, she always knew where his eyes were under the helmet.</p>
<p>"No one stops being a Mandalorian willingly. Why would they?"</p>
<p>Why does she ask those questions? Isn't the answer obvious? But the smile on her face isn't a mocking one, it's full of fondness. It does something to his stomach and makes him very aware of his hand spread out on her back.</p>
<p>"So, are you saying that Mandalorians only marry among themselves? Like, cousin to cousin?"</p>
<p>"You forget that many of us are foundlings, thus not blood related."</p>
<p>Seeking a more comfortable position, her leg brushes against his. He hopes she doesn't notice his intake of air or how he gulps. This woman is going to be the death of him.</p>
<p>"Oh, you're right."</p>
<p>"And I'm not sure if many people are very keen to marry someone whose face they've never seen. It's easier for us because we grow up knowing that, but for an outsider… I can understand that they're reluctant." He sighs, he doesn't really want to go there.</p>
<p>But she knows, of course she does. Once again she's read him, like an open book.</p>
<p>"Did it happen to you?" Her tone carries the right amounts of curiosity and patience to be genuine but respectful, giving him the chance not to respond if he doesn't want to.</p>
<p>"I… I don't want to talk about it, it's in the past. Let's just say that I learned my lesson."</p>
<p>She looks at him a bit shocked. And sad. Great, now she pities him.</p>
<p>She looks down to the baby and secures his head in one elbow. When she looks back up at him, her eyes are still a bit sad but more determined. With the fingers of her free hand she caresses the cheek of his helmet. He regrets not being able to feel that. Her fingertips trace the contours of the cold beskar.</p>
<p>"I'm sorry that they hurt you. But it's not fair that you let them hurt you forever." For a moment, her eyes land on the spot of the helmet that's covering his mouth, then she looks at his eyes, with an intensity that heats up his blood.</p>
<p>Can it be…? Does she…?</p>
<p>"What do you mean?"</p>
<p>Her hand has stopped over his chest.</p>
<p>"What I mean is, if you decide to close yourself to care for someone else, that's your choice. But if you do that because others hurt you in the past, maybe you should think again."</p>
<p>And she's right, of course she's right. But it's not easy. It means that he has to risk his heart again. He did it for Grogu. Can he do it for Cara?</p>
<p>He lifts his hand to her face and mimics her caresses. None of them are wearing gloves. Touching her skin is exciting. She's soft, and she closes her eyes when he brushes his thumb near the corner of her mouth. That beautiful mouth that at times can be foul and at times tender. That mouth that's never afraid of speaking the truth. That mouth that would work wonders on him.</p>
<p>He knows that if it weren't for the helmet, he would kiss her. He cups her jaw, his long fingers touching her neck and her hair. He closes the distance until his helmet meets her forehead.</p>
<p>Maybe he could do it again. Maybe he could give his heart to someone and hope that it won't get crushed. Maybe for the right person. For Grogu's mama. For Cara.</p>
<p>For her.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hope you enjoyed this little nonsense that got stuck in my mind. I wanted to post it before the season finale. Did it feel too hurried? Does it make any sense? Thanks for reading!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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